THE WORLD’S POPULATION IS EXPECTED TO EXCEED NINE BILLION BY
2050. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION MUST THEREFORE INCREASE BY
AN ESTIMATED 70 PER CENT, ACCORDING TO THE UN FOOD AND
AGRICULTURE ORGANISATION.
recognised when looking at greenhouse gas emissions from the sector.
Internationally, the mitigation potential of agricultural soils is between
one and four billion tonnes of CO2/year.
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international or national level. This is a point well recognised by the
Irish Government in the draft climate legislation being debated in
Dáil Éireann. It was also successfully advocated at EU level by Ireland
last October, when the heads of government agreed a climate text,
concluding that agriculture has many roles including food, energy and
fuel production, as well as environmental protection.

The Challenges Ahead
The next round of climate talks in advance of the international
summit in Paris at the end of the year will take place in Bonn in June.
A different approach for agriculture that recognises food security,
sustainable development of the sector and carbon sinks will have to be
developed if there is to be a successful outcome to the Paris summit.
The IFA recently participated in an international climate
conference in France and called for a new approach to address
the climate challenge, which puts food security and sustainable
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The world’s population is expected to exceed nine billion by 2050.
Agricultural production must therefore increase by an estimated 70
per cent, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
This fact cannot be ignored at a time when the international
community is also seeking to halve global emissions over the same
period. A demand for the agriculture sector to achieve such emission
reductions at the same time as growing output is not feasible.
France will host the UN international climate talks in Paris this
December, which will seek to identify a global plan to address
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Irish Wildlife Summer ‘15

this challenge over the next decade. Based on comments made
by the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, at the
conference, agriculture seems to be starting in a good place. While
acknowledging the intimate link between agriculture and climate,
he said that agriculture’s response must evolve towards sustainable
production and better management of resources.
A number of recommendations were put forward at the conference
to build on this and lead to a more sustainable future for farmers,
foresters and the world’s population. Most importantly, there is a
need to differentiate agriculture from other sectors when it comes to
greenhouse gas emission reductions. This is a point that was broadly
ignored in previous international talks and past mistakes must not
be repeated. The majority of emissions from agriculture differ from
other sectors such as industry and transport; the gases are naturally
occurring and result from the primary aim of addressing the global
food security challenge.
Agriculture, climate change and food security are all interlinked.
The overall approach to the agriculture sector must recognise these
multiple challenges. IFA is lobbying in Europe and internationally to
ensure that the international talks in Paris build on recent EU heads of
government agreements and deliver a fair and balanced agreement for
agriculture in December.

The IWT invited Harold to respond to Elaine Dromey’s article that
appeared in the last Wild Ideas column. While we don’t necessarily
agree with the contents of this piece, we are anxious to improve
communication with farmers’ organisations and hear their side of the
story.